T-Mobile Using iPhone 3G To Keep High-spending Users

T-Mobile has quietly started to dish out officially endorsed iPhone 3G - not GS - to selected UK customers who threaten to leave with a mere 150 available per week.

Given that each of those customers would be worth about £100 per month (or more), that's a simple way for T-Mobile to bring in around £1 million worth of revenues.

The Register, who reported the story, says that T-Mobile is doing everything to appear as attractive to potential buyers; this, the online tech website says, include slashing opening hours of their cafetaria and cutting down on Goodwill payments.

Towards the end of July, we reported how the company was looking to bulk buy unlocked iPhones across Europe although it was more likely that it just shipped PAYG iPhones to the UK.

T-Mobile has deliberately kept the whole operation low key because of the fear of attracting Apple's wrath. T-Mobile also sells iPhones in Germany and jeopardising Apple's relationship could cost more than a few million Euros.

It is also understood that Apple is in discussion to allow T-Mobile and Orange to sell the iPhone 3G in UK but any agreement is likely to exclude the latest iPhone 3GS model. T-Mobile has already dismissed any rumours linking it with any agreement to sell the iPhone 3G in the UK.